But there were several players who, for whatever reason, were unable to reach an agreement with their team on an extension.

Norman Powell (Orlando), Mason Plumlee (Denver), TJ Warren (Denver), Will Barton (Phoenix) and Bojan Bogdanovic (Washington) all failed to sign an extension after being traded this season. Portland's horrible salary cap situation reportedly prevented them from making a competitive offer to forward Noah Vonleh. His future is up in the air.

Brook Lopez (Brooklyn) and Avery Bradley (Boston) look set to be the biggest name unrestricted free agents. Both could end up seeking new surroundings, although for very different reasons.

The reigning MVP looks set to win the award for the second straight season. He is averaging 25 points, 11.4 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game and has his team sitting comfortably in second spot in the western conference, only a few games behind the seemingly unstoppable Golden State Warriors.

Westbrook seems really happy with his current situation. His team are legitimate contenders and the owners are finally spending put help around him. He's not going anywhere.

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LeBron James ($35.61m) - Cleveland

King James is Mr Cleveland and it's hard to see him leaving again after he cemented his legacy by winning those rings in Miami. He is just playing for the love of the game and his hometown club now.

That said, he has no reason to sign long term deals at this point in his career because he can just name his own price on his contract. But this time he will most likely opt in as the Cavs will have no cap room to work with whatever he does.

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Paul George ($20.7m) - Boston

Paul George's off-season move to Boston has been a successful one so far. He has helped them rise to the top of the eastern conference, in a three-way battle with Toronto and Cleveland. He also earned another all-star selection.

Technically he could opt out and look to get a huge payday, but that would likely cost the Celtics key players. So expect to see him opt in and look for that big contract next year.

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Carmelo Anthony ($27.33m) - LA Clippers

Melo only just arrived in LA, so don't expect him to be going anywhere soon. All signs point to him at least giving it one full season with the Clippers.

Even if they miss out on the playoffs this season it's almost certain that he will opt in.

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LaMarcus Aldridge ($22.35m) - San Antonio

Aldridge has taken over the mantle as the new leader of Spurs alongside Kawhi Leonard since Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili retired. He is a Texas native and seems extremely happy playing for one of the most professional organisations in sport.

Look for him to opt in to help Spurs keep cap room and get rewarded with a big contract next year.

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DeAndre Jordan ($24.12m) - LA Clippers

As the premiere defensive big in the league Jordan will be attracting a lot of interest, should he become a free agent. But it would be a bit crazy for him to leave this team so quickly after Melo arrived.

Expect him opt in and give this "superteam" a year to prove that it's a legitimate contender..

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Enes Kanter ($18.62m) - New Orleans

Kanter is having a career-best season playing alongside superstar Anthony Davis. He is rebounding better than he ever has and his defending has even improved slightly.

Even though the Pelicans aren't in the playoff hunt, it's more than likely that Kanter will opt in.

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Thaddeus Young ($13.96m) - Boston

Young has played a key part of Celtics success this season since joining in the Paul George trade. He has formed a solid partnership with Al Horford.

He probably wants to opt in, but may be convinced to re-negotiate in order to help them retain Avery Bradley.

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Wesley Matthews ($18.62m) - Sacramento

The Kings added Matthews last off-season as part of a major effort to strengthen their team. Unfortunately for them, they are still terrible.

Matthews doesn't seem particularly desperate to ring chase any time soon, so the 31 year old likely won't pass up this payday.

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Monta Ellis ($11.69m) - Indiana

The veteran guard has found himself out of favour with the Pacers focusing on youth this season. It's unlikely that he would get this kind of money as a free agent, but would he want to stick with a lottery team for another year?

The smart money is on him opting out and joining a contender as a bench player.

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Jeremy Lin ($12.52m) - Brooklyn

It's been a while since the Linsanity hype faded, but Jeremy Lin is still plying his trade in the league as a starter in Brooklyn.

He may decide to opt out in order to sign longer-term deal.

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Cory Joseph ($7.35m) - Toronto

Joseph has been an important part of Toronto's rise into contender status this season as backup to Kyle Lowry. It's hard to see the Toronto native wanting to leave anytime soon.

Will almost certainly opt in.

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Danny Green ($10m) - San Antonio

Has been a key role player for the Spurs over the past half-dozen years. But you get the feeling that the Spurs would prefer it if he declined this player option.

Could be persuaded to opt out to take cheaper but longer deal in order to help Spurs rebuild with free agents.

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Iman Shumpert ($11m) - Cleveland

With the state of Cleveland's salary cap even before LeBron James opts in to his player option for next season, it doesn't really make any difference what Shumpert decides to do.

He is probably better than anyone they could sign for the minimum, so they will be happy if he opts in.

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Austin Rivers ($12.65m) - New York

It's a lot of money to turn down, but perhaps Rivers has bigger priorities than money. The Knicks are a mess and about to enter a rebuild, so perhaps he would rather take less money to go an join a contender as a backup point guard.

It really is 50-50 at this point if he stays or not.

TEAM OPTIONS

Al Jefferson ($10m) - Indiana

The Pacers will likely decline this option because they are focusing on youth now and would rather use that cap space elsewhere. Myles Turner is established as their starting center and Jefferson really is somewhat surplus to requirements.

You wouldn't completely rule out Jefferson signing a cheaper deal to remain in Indiana and mentor their young group. But he could just as easily opt to sign on with a contending team in a backup role.

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Patrick Beverley ($5m) - Houston

It's hard to see the Rockets not activating this option on Beverley. They absolutely love his defensive play and overall energy. Not to mention the fact that in this day and age $5 million is a cheap contract.

Beverley has still managed to be a key rotation guy for the Rockets even with James Harden switching to the starting point guard role this season. Eric Gordon and Louis Williams are the other half of one of the best backcourt rotations in the NBA.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

Mason Plumlee - Denver

Plumlee only recently arrived from Portland in a trade for Jusuf Nurkic. They certainly have the cap space to re-sign him, but will they be willing to match the big money offers he will get? He won't be starting ahead of Nikola Jokic.

At this stage it seems like they may let him leave and spend their money elsewhere. Which makes the whole trade for him seem pointless.

(Potential suitors:Brooklyn, Louisville, New York, San Antonio)

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Will Barton - Phoenix

He has been a solid bench player for the Suns since arriving in the off-season, but will likely get big money offers. Will Phoenix pay to keep him when they already have Tyson Chandler and Terrence Ross earning big money off the bench?

At this point it doesn't look like the Magic can afford to keep Powell. Unless they somehow manage dump DeMarre Carroll's bloated salary in the off-season. He wouldn't be a huge loss though as they already have Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja on their roster.

(Potential suitors:San Diego, Dallas, New York, Indiana, Brooklyn)

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TJ Warren - Denver

This will be another big decision for Denver. Warren has been backup to rookie Josh Jackson this season, but will likely get big offers from elsewhere. They can afford to match an offers, but will they want to?

(Potential suitors:Louisville, San Diego, Brooklyn, Dallas)

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Bojan Bogdanovic - Washington

The Wizards gave up a first round pick to get the Croatian sharpshooter, but will he want stay whilst they are rebuilding? He is averaging 14 points per game and is a candidate for the sixth man of the year award.

(Potential suitors:New York, Louisville, San Diego, Dallas)

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Noah Vonleh - Portland

Portland's atrocious salary management over the past few seasons will probably cost them young big man Noah Vonleh. The Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard contracts will make it extremely hard for them to match any offer that Vonleh gets as it will put them deep into luxury tax territory.

Potentially the biggest name free agent available. He could be forced out of Boston due to salary cap squeeze caused by Paul George and Thaddeus Young. One of the best defensive guards in the league, will get plenty of big money offers.

The Spurs have looked much weaker this season, far from the perennial contender that they have been for the past decade and a half. The 37 year old may leave money on the table to join stronger contender.

(Potential suitors:Boston, Cleveland, LA Clippers, Portland, Denver)

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*Brook Lopez - Brooklyn

Whilst he hasn't publicly confirmed it, he does look all but gone from Brooklyn. He has carried the burden of being the star player for a losing franchise for years, so it's understandable that he would want a change of scenery to play on a successful team.

(Potential suitors:San Antonio)

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Tony Allen - Memphis

The veteran defensive specialist is 36 years old now and may retire. He could also decide to spend his final years ring chasing as Memphis aren't the team they were a few years ago anymore.

He seems happy enough to end his career with his hometown team. He has put his troublesome ego to one side this season and played some solid basketball, whilst also mentoring young star Lonzo Ball. If a mutually beneficial deal can be arranged he'll stay.

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Tony Parker - San Antonio

The last of the Spurs' "big three" left. He is still playing at a decent level despite his age. Look for him to do the right thing by his team and take less money to help create cap space to sign free agents.

Louis Williams - Houston

The perennial sixth man of the year candidate has fit in perfectly since his mid-season move to the Rockets. In all likelihood he'll remain in Houston, unless he gets a significantly higher offer from elsewhere.

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Arron Afflalo - San Diego

Afflalo seems to be enjoying his time with the Eagles in their debut season. He is averaging 13 points per game and shooting at the highest percentage of his career. He could re-sign if they miss out on bigger name free agents.

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Joe Johnson - Louisville

It's hard to see the 36 year old sticking around with the new franchise as they try to establish themselves. He will likely look to spend the final years of his career chasing rings.

New Orleans Pelicans expected to relocate to Seattle after league approves sale

It's the news that all Seattle basketball fans have been waiting to have for almost a decade; they will have an NBA team in their city again starting from next season.

Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and an unnamed consortium of wealthy financiers are behind the takeover. It is the culmination of years of hard work by Hansen to bring an NBA franchise back to the city.

The stunning development comes after the current NBA owners voted on the proposal late last night and gave it a unanimous tick of approval.

Current Pelicans owner Tom Benson had put the team on the market in order to settle financial dispute with family members. He was reportedly sad that the team were leaving New Orleans, but confident that they were in good hands for the future.

Adam Silver hasn't given any word yet as to whether the team will re-acquire the old Sonics' history from the Oklahoma City Thunder or if they will just keep their current Charlotte/New Orleans history.

Seattle's re-entry will cause a slight change to the structure of the western conference. Basically, they will swap divisions with Oklahoma City.

The Thunder will join the geographically-closer Texas teams and Memphis in the southwest division, whilst the Sonics will compete with the likes of Portland, Denver and Utah in the northwest division.

Obviously, the building of a new arena was a major problem in the past for the Sonics and that issue still exists today. So the team are planning on playing at the soon-to-be renovated KeyArena in the short-term.

Work will commence immediately in order to upgrade the facilities back up to NBA standard. They may look to build a more modern arena in the future.

As part of he relocation proposal the new owners presented updated logo and jersey designs. They are reminiscent of the old design, but are a slightly more simplified version.

Fans probably won't be too concerned though, as they will be too busy watching Anthony Davis dominate to care about what he and his teammates are wearing.

Phil89 wrote:I think I've finally given up on trying to make Bledsoe and Booker my primary scorers and just feed my big men inside at every opportunity. It seems to work out well for me.

Yeah thats the thing that's always existed in NBA video games, especially 2K - big man dominating based on pure size and length. I mean, Yao Ming was probably the most overpowered 2K player of all time at one point.